What Would You Change If You Knew Your Lifespan?

I recently did a story on a new test from a firm called Life Length, which purports to predict someone's lifespan by using the science of telomeres. They are structures located at the tips of chromosomes; researchers have found people with shorter-than-average telomeres die sooner, although habits such as diet and exercise can make a difference.

 

I spoke with financial planners and behavioral pscyhologists who said knowing your longevity would make it much easier to prepare for retirement and other goals. The crux of financial planning is about figuring out how much you can spend now and how much you need to save for later. Since we don't know how long "later" is going to last, we can only make educated guesses, based on our parents' lifespans, family history of disease and the lifestyle choices (how much we eat, drink, smoke, exercise, and how we manage stress).

 

But let's say you took the test and found out you would likely die in your 60s, or 90s? What would you change? Would you change jobs, work less, work more, move to another city, travel more, end a relationship or invest more energy into one? Would you live a more frugal lifestyle, save more for retirement, go back to school or take a big risk, such as starting a business?

 

Take a few minutes and think really carefully about this.

 

Then ask yourself: Why am I not doing that right now?

 

It's crucial to be mindful of what gives us joy, what inspires "flow" in our work, what makes life worth living -- and how we will organize our time and financial resources to make those things a priority.

 

So it's not realistic to quit your job and spend your days surfing. But can you find efficiencies in your schedule and propose a little more flexibility to your boss so you can surf an hour or two more each week? Can you get a job at a surf company so you're engaged in work related to your passion?

 

Would you want to know how much time you have left? What would you change if you found out you had less time than you thought -- or more?